The launch event was attended by Richard Meddings, Board of Directors and Group Finance Director; Shayne Nelson, Regional CEO for Middle East and North Africa; Mahendra Gursahani, Senior Executive Officer, Standard Chartered DIFC; and Lee Boon Huat, Managing Director, Global Markets Middle East and North Africa.

According to the DIFC, the new trading floor strengthens Standard Chartered's regional headquarters at DIFC by creating the largest such facility in the Middle East, with the biggest number of trading positions.

The trading floor hosts over 200 trading seats, and will support the continued build out of the Bank's global financial markets business. As one of the bank's global hubs, this DIFC trading floor is geared to be a centre of excellence for the Middle East and Africa region.

The facility will include specialist global roles focusing on key product areas such as Risk Management Advisory, Structuring, Interest Rates Derivatives, Foreign Exchange, e-commerce, Credit Trading and Capital Markets capabilities, with a wide spectrum of products covering Fixed Income, Syndications, Asset Backed Securities, Credit Derivatives and Convertible Bonds.

At the launch, the DIFC chief announced that:

"We congratulate Standard Chartered on the opening of its new trading room. The Dubai International Financial Centre provides a productive platform for global companies like Standard Chartered to expand their service offerings in a financial market that is growing rapidly."

He continued: "Standard Chartered's new trading room sets fresh benchmarks in the region for state-of-the-art facilities that help customers conduct trading activities. Facilities such as this will help to generate even more growth in the region's financial market."

Standard Chartered is investing in expanding its Financial Markets capabilities, both in the UAE and within the Group. The Bank has recently established a team of client relationship specialists based in Dubai and has also expanded its Global Corporates, Corporate Finance and Commodity Research teams.

Standard Chartered is the only bank within the Dubai International Financial Centre to have its own dedicated office building.

Standard Chartered was also one of the first financial institutions to obtain a commercial banking licence in the Dubai International Financial Centre. It was appointed the settlement bank, as well as a custody bank for the Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) in August 2005.